[ARC] Things Withered by Susie Moloney

The book collects some stories by Susie Moloney, all of them having in common something horror – noir that emerges in the conclusion of each story.

The stories are set in suburbs and in situation of decay, both social – economical and emotional: the main characters are persons unsure of their abilities, of themselves, dishearten and without any perspective for the future.

The stories atmosphere is always dark and emotionally heavy (and depressing), taking the whole collection it seems like all the stories come from the same standard structure (for example the conclusions are quite easy to deduce after reading a couple of stories).

Overall the stories are well written, but, as I said, quite repetitive – not in the plot in se, but in the general structure – and it’s difficult to feel empathy for the characters.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.